Electric railway-car



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

R. M. HUNTER. ELECTRIC RAILWAY GAR.

No. 425,077. Patented Apr. 8, 1890.

THE nunms nuns 00., PNonrmnm, vnsmnm'nu, n. c.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-$heet 2 R. M. HUNTER. ELECTRIC RAILWAY GAR.

No. 425,077. PatentedApr. 8, 1890.

THE NORRIS PiYERS co., wow-mum. wuumamn, n. o;

' I prefer Worm and worm-Wheel gearing.

UNIT D STATES PATENT Fries.

RUDOLPH M. HUNTER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY-CAR.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 425,077, dated April 8, 1890.

Application filed April 19, 1888. Serial No. 271,141. (No model.)

T0 on whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH M. HUNTER, of the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Electric Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to electric railways; and it consists of certain improvements, all of which are fully set forth in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, which form part thereof.

111 my application filed October 4, 1886, Se-

rial No. 215,199, I describe a construction in which the motor is carried by the ear-body which is mounted on the axles through the mediation of springs, and in which the motorshaft is made jointed and connected to the rear axle by means of worm and worm-wheel gearing, the jointed connection in the motorshaft being one to allow for the independent movements of the motor with reference to the axle. In this application substantially the same general object is had in view; but in this case the motor is preferably geared to both axles and is arranged between the axles. The motor may be supported on the car-body, the axleboxes, or mounted upon a suitable frame carried by the axles, and any movement given to the motorindependently of the axles is compensated for by the loose or flexible joint in the motor-shaft. It is immaterial what the form of gearing used may be, though If one wheel on one axle should run upon or pass over an obstruction, the line of these two worms and motor-bearings would not remain in line; hence when the motor is supported so that the axle may move without moving the motor it is most advantageous to provide means for allowing this movement without binding on the shaft.

The details of construction may be varied Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is asectional elevation of an electric car embodying my invention on line a: 00 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan view of same with the car-floor removed. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation showing one form of coupling in the motor-shaft. Fig. l is a crosssection of same on line a Fig. 5 is a detailed view showing one form of elastic support for the motor-frame on the axle. Figs. 6 and 7 are sectional elevations, and Figs. 8 and 9 are plan views, of modifications of my invention; and Fig. 10 is an elevation showing another form of elastic or flexible connection between motor and driving-gear.

A is the car or truck frame.

B are the axles, and Z) the wheels for running upon the rails N.

O are the guides or pedestals for the axleboxes and contain springs 0, upon which the car body or frame is supported.

D is the motor-frame, and E is the electric motor supported thereon. As shown in Fig. 1, this frame D is secured to the pedestals C, and hence the motor is in effect secured to the car body or frame A. In Fig. 2 the frame D is supported upon the axles B by springs c, (see Fig. 5,) and,if desired, these springs may be dispensed with at one or both axles.

F are worm-wheels secured upon the axles B, and II are worms working therewith and are supported in frames G, journaled on the axles to prevent the worms leaving the wormwheels. The motor-shaft is e, and is coupled to the worms H by the loose couplings I, which may be of any suitable construction-for instance, a socket with the end of the shaft e provided with feathers 2'. (See Fig. 4.) These couplings form loose or giving connections between the motor-shaft and worms to compensate for all irregularities in the alignment of these parts due to the relative movements of the axles. This construction of giving or loose connection between the gearing and shaft enables the motor-shaft to be free at all times and have provision for starting to rotate without material resistance; or, instead of this coupling, a heavy coiled coupling-' spring I may be used, as indicated in Fig. 10, and in fact any form of flexible or elastic or combined flexible and elastic power-transmitting coupling may be used. It is evident that any movement of the motor or its frame independent of the worm-wheels II is easily compensated for by this means and prevents all binding on the shaft or distortions of it. This is particularly apparent where both the axles are driven from the same shaft.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the worms at both axles are above the worm-wheels, "while in Fig. 6 they are arranged as in my application, Serial No.214, 309, of September 23,1S86,in which one worm is above the worm-wheel on one axle, and the other is below the worm-wheclon the other axle.

In Figs. 7, 8, and 9 I have the worm and worm-wheels replaced by bevel-gears.

It is evident that the motor E may have its shaft 6 connected with the gearing of only one axle, if so desired, and so far as the broad invention of the flexible coupling I is concerned it is immaterial whether one or both axles are connected for transmitting power.

The frame D, which supports the motor, might be supported on the axle-boxes, if desired, and thus utilize the construction found on all cars.

K are the cleaning -brushes, which are adapted to sweep the rails N, so as to clear the rails of slush, dirt, or snow, whereby the wheels l1 may obtain a better hold to increase the traction. These brushes K are shown as at an angle to the rail, so as to sweep the refuse to one side. The brushes are on shafts J, supported on the axles by bearings 7:, and thus held at a given distance with reference to the track, and is independent of the movements of the car-body. These shafts J and their brushes are rotated by means of bands or chains M passing over pulleys L and Z, respectively on the axle B and shafts J. The particular means .for rotating the brushes is immaterial, and in fact it is not necessary that they should rotate at all.

In this application I do not claim the cleaning-brush, as such forms subjeetqnatter of my application, Case 130, filed March ll, 1890, and serially numbered 343,899.

llavin g now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of two axles and their wheels, with a motor-frame extending from axle to axle, an electric motorsupported thereon, having a longitudinal rotating shaft, gearing connecting the motor-shaft with one of said axles, and a loose or giving connection between the said gearing and shaft, whereby the motor-shaft may be free at all times and have provision for starting to rotate without material resistance.

2. The combination of two axles and their wheels,a car-body supported thereon by means of springs, an electric motor having a longitudinal rotating shaft supported upon said axles independently of the car-body, gearing between the axle and motor-shaft, and a loose or giving connection between the worm-wheel and motor-shaft, consisting of a single loose joint.

3. The combination of two axles and their wheels,a car-body supported thereon bymeans of springs, an electric motor having a longitudinal rotating shaft arranged between the axles, a frame carrying the motor and supported upon said axles independently of the entl y of the ear-body, an electric motor having a rotating shaft extending between the two axles, gearing operated by each end of the motor-shaft for rotating the respective axles, and a flexible connection between the motorshaft and the other of the axles.

5,. The combination of the two axles, a body part or vehicle-frame supported thereon by springs, a motor-frame journaled on one of the axles independently of the body part, an electric motor carried on said frame, a wormwheel on the axle, a worm for the worm-wheel, a frame for holding the worm to the wormwheel carried by the axle and independent of the body part, and a flexible or giving connection between the electric-motor shaft and the worm.

6. The combination of the two axles, a body part or vehicle-frame supported thereon by springs, a motor-frame jonrnaled on one of the axles independently of the body part, an electric motor carried on said frame, a wormwheel on the axle, a worm for the worm-wheel, a frame for holding the worm to the wormwheel carried by the axle, loosely supported with respect to the motor-frame and independent of the body part, and a flexible or giving, connection between the electric-motor shaft and the worm.

'7. The combination of an axle, a car body or frame supported upon the axle by springs, a motor-frame journaled or supported on the axle independently of the car-body, a worm on the axle, a worm-wheel therefor, and a socket-connection between the motor-shaft and worm, whereby the motor-shaft may shift slightly in all directions without binding.

8. The combination of the axles, a car-body supported on said axles by springs, a motorframe journaled upon said axles and supported on one axle by springs independently of the car-body, an electric motor supported upon said frame, and gearing between the motor-shaft and other axle.

f). The combination of the axles, acar-body supported on said axles by springs, a motorframe journaled upon said axles and supported on one axle by springs independently of the car-body, an electric motor supported upon said frame, gearing between the motorshaft and the other axle, and an elastic or giving connection between the gearing and m otor-sh aft.

10. The combination of two axles, a car body or frame supported thereon through springs, a motor elastically supported on the axles independently of the ea'r-body, and toothed gearing between the motor-shaft and axle.

11. In an electrically-propelled vehicle, an

i v l [L l j axle, a wq'rm-wheel on said axle, a worm meshand a flexible or giving connection between,

the gearing and motor-shaft. I

13. In an electrically-propelled vehicle, the combination of an axle, an electric motor, gearing connecting with the axle, and a flexible and elastic connection between the motor-shaft and gearing, whereby the motorarinatnre may obtain an impulse or partial rotation before the axle rotates and allow for irregular movements of the axle.

14. In an electrically-propelled vehicle, the combination of two axles, a worm-wheel on each axle, a worm foreach worm-wheel, amotor located between the two worms, and a flexible and elastic connection between the motor-shaft and each worm.

15. The combination of two axles, a car body or frame supported 011 the axles by springs, a worm and worm-wheel for each axle positively held thereto, an electric motor elastically supported independently of the car-body, and a connection between the motor-shaft and the worms of the two axles.

16. The combination of two axles, a car body or frame supported on the axles by springs, a worm and worm-wheel for each axle positively held thereto, an electric motor elastically supported independently of the car-body, and a flexible or giving connection between the motor-shaft and the worms of the two axles.

In testimony of which inventionI hereunto set my hand.

RUDOLPH M. HUNTER. Witnesses:

ERNEST HOWARD HUNTER, E. M. BRECKINREED. 

